New job is making me stand in front of the entire department and say a 'fun fact' about myself - AIBU?

[thisisnotforme]

I started a new job recently, I've mainly been working remotely so have only met a handful of colleagues.

There is a big departmental in-person meeting next week, I am already dreading going to it because I'm really nervous to meet people in real life, even though I have been speaking to them on Teams I'm still nervous.

Today I got an email that they are going to use that meeting to introduce me to the team and they want to stand up in front of everyone and say a fun fact about myself.

I'm really shy and this is literally my worst nightmare.

[Wallywobbles]

I spend December to February up to the elbow in sheep vaginas. That's my fun fact.

[TSSDNCOP]

I once did "My name is TTS, I keep my Moet and Chandon in a pretty cabinet".

[ElephantOfRisk]

Also shy OP and ben working for nearly 40 years, this stuff will come up all the time. I struggled to find "fun" things or "something no-one knows about you" or a surprising fact. I ended up just making shit up.

Stuff like - I once petted (insert C level celeb/soap star) dog,
I met (insert C level level celeb/soap star) on the bus in Alicante,
I'm a trained bricklayer etc. No-one cares, no-one listens and no-one ever challenges.

[WaddesdonWanderer]

I’m very boring but I have one fun story about me that I always use for these circumstances: I rode my bike into the canal by accident on the way into work one day. You can borrow this fact if you wish!

[virallife]

Why do extroverts do this shit to introverts

So true.

I had to do this once. One person was related to someone famous (so nothing that you actually achieved yourself then) and another was from far away (yes, I know, your accent gives it away).
Being extroverted does not make you superior to introverts. If you perpetuate this crap you are just a bully.

[LaetitiaASD]

@rrhuth

This is a job skill, you have to do things that make you feel uncomfortable to get better at them. Who needs to get better at pointless crap like this? Being the kind of bore who does this is a negative trait.

Surely public speaking is a job skill for some jobs and not others, and judging by OPs fear I suspect her job isn't one where public speakig is needed.

"I'm not fun and I don't know any facts".

[NoviceNewMN]

hi I'm Sarah, Fun fact, I am really scared of standing up here in front of everyone' you'll get a laugh and can scurry back to your seat,

Seriously don't do this. It's self undermining for no reason at all.

Agree with keep it very brief and get out of there. It doesn't have to be true but it does need to be something not offensive and not something that does yourself down.

Think about it this way - it will be over in seconds. The time it takes to say "my name is X" is literally seconds.

If you are really struggling just say "my least favorite thing to do is think up fun facts". but you probably can find something short and quick tthat is interesting.

Think about stuff you did when you were a kid (won random competitions etc) or things you've never done that everyone has done (never watched a Harry Potter film).

[LaetitiaASD]

@WaddesdonWanderer

I’m very boring but I have one fun story about me that I always use for these circumstances: I rode my bike into the canal by accident on the way into work one day. You can borrow this fact if you wish!

Not on the way to work but I've done the same thing! Actually, not quite true, I stopped under a bridge to let someone else past, then as I tried to start cycling again just toppled in. Going underneath a second time to retrieve the bike was not a personal highlight of the experience.

[GoldenOmber]

You can’t really ask to be excused doing the bit where you introduce yourself, it’ll look weird, and if you’re already introducing yourself you can add on a ‘fun fact’ in another few words.

Most people find these things awkward to some extent, they won’t be judging you on the fun-ness of your fact. Pick something fairly minor and script it beforehand so you won’t be thinking of how to word it at the time. “Hi, my name is X, and my fun fact is that I don’t like ice cream/have a cat named Daisy/can’t whistle/once got lost in Barcelona.” Smile and sit down.

[OakPine]

Don't what ever you do stand up and say
I'm introverted
I'm scared
I don't want to do this
Or that's what everyone remembers

Say something like
Hi, I'm Emily and I [love baking cakes/have a dog called Mr.PotatoHead/I'm training for my first 5k run. ]
Nice to meet you all.
and sit down.

Good luck. You can do it.

[sbhydrogen]

We used to have to stand up in front of everyone, introduce yourself, and then tell a joke.

Relax, a fun fact could be "I only ever wear red" or "I've broken a tenth of the bones in my body".

[ViperHalliwell]

I used to work for a REALLY touchy-feely US company - everyone was constantly reaching out and touching base and daring to win and leading from the front. I was part of a management training group and every new person who joined had to "share" something about themselves (thank god, no one suggested these things should be either fun or facts).

My favourite was the nerdy shy guy who turned out to be hilarious, but before any of us knew him he gave this great long drawn-out performance about how he's been collecting paper clips since he was a child and it's his only real interest outside of work and his family and dog. He proceeded to describe several of his all-time favourite paper clips but said how it's very rare to find something exciting and some days it's just the usual run of the mill paper clips but he still sorts them by size and colour out of a sense of responsibility. And he gets really excited when the interoffice mail comes just in case there's a good paper clip.... You get the idea; it went on for quite some time and the facilitator was trying to interrupt and finally had to go up and take his arm to lead him away. As he went he called out something about how if we came across any truly exciting paperclips, his office was over there (points) and you'd really make his day.

Mine was: I was born with a caul. Gross, but true. I used it a few times and there was dead silence and then quickly moving on to the next person.

Anything will do: weird pets, born abroad, lived somewhere unusual, bilingual, dated a Backstreet Boy, musical instrument you played as a child, strange jobs, embarrassing middle name, etc. Just don't use something totally disprovable, like the guy who claimed he spoke fluent Nahuatl, and someone else actually did and tried to chat with him.

[HundredMilesAnHour]

I hate "fun facts". Most of them aren't fun and as you can see from the responses on this thread, quite a few of them aren't facts either.

Just go along with it OP. It's only a minute, you get to prepare in advance and even if you mess up, no-one will realise.

I joined my current employer during lockdown so was working remotely until recently. Despite this, I was still made to do a "fun intro" which consisted of several Powerpoint slides full of fun facts about myself - and even worse, "fun photos". I had to present it to the entire team. So be glad you only have one "fun" fact to do.

[Mumoftwoinprimary]

I’ve had the same “fun fact” for over 20 years now. It isn’t even very fun:-

I got married on the same day as two very famous people. I did wonder if I would have to think of a new one when they split up (and he married someone else) but then I realised I could make a joke about how my marriage is still ongoing and so I have outperformed (insert famous person here).

So I do. Every single time. I feel sorry for the bloke who has worked with me for a decade as he must be a little tired of that joke 3 times a year now but then I’m a little bored of his bird watching fact that he uses every time as well so we are all square!

[Sn0tnose]

After many years of this sort of old flannel, I’ve started making them up. Huge, brazen lies. All it requires is a 30 second look on Wiki on your chosen lie, steady eye contact and the knowledge that nobody will outrightly accuse you of lying. My team all know I do it and whenever we have to do a course where this sort of thing is likely to happen, they suggest lies to out do the last one. I’ve appeared in various pop videos, I’ve been an extra in more zombie films than I care to remember and I once spent a delightful hour eating egg mayo sandwiches with Kylie Minogue after her car broke down outside my house when she was on location. All absolutely rubbish.

[SchadenfreudePersonified]

@thisisnotforme

I started a new job recently, I've mainly been working remotely so have only met a handful of colleagues.

There is a big departmental in-person meeting next week, I am already dreading going to it because I'm really nervous to meet people in real life, even though I have been speaking to them on Teams I'm still nervous.

Today I got an email that they are going to use that meeting to introduce me to the team and they want to stand up in front of everyone and say a fun fact about myself.

I'm really shy and this is literally my worst nightmare.

My "fun fact" is that I hate these stupid "ice-breaker" idiocies. They are humiliating and degrading.

[GreyhoundG1rl]

@rrhuth

This is a job skill, you have to do things that make you feel uncomfortable to get better at them. Who needs to get better at pointless crap like this? Being the kind of bore who does this is a negative trait.

Well, this; obviously...
Useful skill my arse.

[JoBrodie]

@GoldenOmber

You can’t really ask to be excused doing the bit where you introduce yourself, it’ll look weird, and if you’re already introducing yourself you can add on a ‘fun fact’ in another few words.

Most people find these things awkward to some extent, they won’t be judging you on the fun-ness of your fact. Pick something fairly minor and script it beforehand so you won’t be thinking of how to word it at the time. “Hi, my name is X, and my fun fact is that I don’t like ice cream/have a cat named Daisy/can’t whistle/once got lost in Barcelona.” Smile and sit down.

It seems that OP is the only one being asked to do this so won't really stand out if this is nipped in the bud quietly before the meeting takes place.

It's perhaps a bit weird to excuse yourself once a meeting's underway but I've done it and survived (also I never know in advance which meetings are going to do "let's all go round the room" and which aren't, so can't really veto before meeting starts).

Jo

[highlandcoo]

Poor you OP; I sympathise.

When I was training for a hospital volunteer role, the guy in charge just loved stuff like this. He was also fond of the sound of his own voice parable-like stories which we were all meant to be inspired by.

One day he announced we would go round the table and in turn each begin a sentence with: " I get a warm fuzzy feeling when .."

I remember my turn getting closer and thinking "I literally cannot do this; I would never use this phrase." It might sound OTT but I felt manipulated into behaving in a way to fit his agenda IYSWIM. Deeply disliked the guy if you haven't guessed!

I finally said "I'm Scottish; we don't have warm fuzzy feelings in Scotland. However, I can tell you something that makes me feel happy .."

He laughed but he didn't like it. I'm sure there was some sort of power thing going on.

[GreyhoundG1rl]

Dear sweet Christ! Warm fuzzy feelings .

[XenoBitch]

@virallife

Why do extroverts do this shit to introverts

So true.

I had to do this once. One person was related to someone famous (so nothing that you actually achieved yourself then) and another was from far away (yes, I know, your accent gives it away).
Being extroverted does not make you superior to introverts. If you perpetuate this crap you are just a bully.

Being an introvert is not the same as being shy.

[greenlynx]

I would think that they want you to say something about yourself which is not job related. Your fact could be as funny as you want but the main thing is that it should be something about you as a person: I love running, I learn Spanish , my passion is travelling, I’m collecting stamps/owl toys/ beer bottles etc. I would give them something like this but only true fact and only what you are comfortable to share and something they would learn anyway. I wouldn’t give them 2 lies and 1 true fact because you would need to manage it so more attention on you. Keep it simple and smile. Be ready to add something about your fact but only if you’re asked, don’t volunteer too much.
Good luck, I hate this sort of stuff.

[edwinbear]

OP this is one of those things you really do need to suck up and do. I understand you’re nervous, but if this is a ‘thing’ for them, if you refuse, it runs the risk of you looking like you think you’re a bit above this sort of silliness.

I had to do a PowerPoint slide all about me and present it to about 100 people when I started at my current job, I’d much rather have not, but actually people were very kind and made a point of coming up to me at the drinks afterwards, asking questions about me and generally welcoming me to the company. You’ll be absolutely fine

[Shehasadiamondinthesky]

Well I'm a naturist but there's no way on earth I'm telling work colleagues that. Maybe you can tell them you dress up as a clown at weekends.

[AveryGoodlay]

Just give a short an answer as possible, it doesn't have to be true and hardly anyone listens. Those who do won't remember what you've said!

We had to do this once and honestly people were talking about climbing mountains and heroic feats, am already an introvert and this made me feel like real shit. Don't go in with an attitude like this though. Other people's achievements shouldn't make you "feel like shit". I find life much more pleasant being happy for them that they've achieved something good.